Amitrano AM, Kim M. Metabolic Challenges in Anticancer CD8 T Cell Functions.
Immune Netw 2023;
23:e9. [PMID:
36911801 PMCID:
PMC9995993 DOI:
10.4110/in.2023.23.e9]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 03/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer immunotherapies continue to face numerous obstacles in the successful treatment of solid malignancies. While immunotherapy has emerged as an extremely effective treatment option for hematologic malignancies, it is largely ineffective against solid tumors due in part to metabolic challenges present in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells face fierce competition with cancer cells for limited nutrients. The strong metabolic suppression in the TME often leads to impaired T-cell recruitment to the tumor site and hyporesponsive effector functions via T-cell exhaustion. Growing evidence suggests that mitochondria play a key role in CD8+ T-cell activation, migration, effector functions, and persistence in tumors. Therefore, targeting the mitochondrial metabolism of adoptively transferred T cells has the potential to greatly improve the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies in treating solid malignancies.
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